Separable track for self-laying track type vehicles



Jan.1l, 1944. R. MAYNE ETAL 2,338,819

SEPARABLE TRACK FOR SELF-LAYING TRACK TYPE VEHICLES Filed May 9 1942 i@ i I @IF fabel?? fig/ns 555/ :Essay -37 11%? Patented Jan. 11, 1944 SEPARABLE TRACK FOR SELF-LAYIN G TRACK` TYPE VEHICLES Robert Mayne, Akron; and Carl D. Berry, Wadsworth, Ohio, assgnors to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York New York.. N. Y., a corporation of Application May 9, 1942, Serial No. 442,296

6 Claims.

This invention relates to separable track for self-laying track type vehiclesv and is especially useful in the construction of tractors, excavating machines, military tanks, and the like.

Where vehicles such as military tanks, trucks, tractors, excavatingY machines, or the like, are to be operated` over soft ground, it has been proposed to provide them with propelling and supporting means ofr the self-laying track or crawler In the form of the invention illustrated, the longitudinal cables I3I are arranged in closely spaced groups at each side of the band. Cross-bars I6 extend across theA bands of cables at intervals longitudinally of the track between the connecting `members and are'secured, thereto by boltsf Il, I8,

i9; The bolts i8 pass through theA bars between the groups of cables andA are used to-secure wear and guide plate members 20, while also securing type in which an endless track or belt contacts 10 the cross-bars to the-cables. The cross-bars-are the ground over a great area and the vehicle is each made oiv pairsof mating cross-bar elements supportedv therefrom by bogie wheels while power 2 i, 22y through which the boltspass. Half-round is transmitted to the track by sprockets er other grooves 23 are formed inthe meeting faces of the driving means on the vehicle engaging the track. cross-bar elements to receivel the cables which It has been found that the track is sometimes )5 may be insulated therefrom by a' cushioning layer damaged locally especially during military oper- 2li of rubber-1ike material surrounding them and ations,f.and repair in such cases is greatly facilibonded to the cablesv and elements in amanner tated by the provision oi` a separable construction t0 transmit driving stress by shear stress of the such that a portion of the track can be. replaced material. without requiring replacement ofthe whole track. 20 A bodt7 25 of resilient rubber-like material may The present invention aims t0 overcome these enclose the cables and portions' of the cross-bars difficulties and to providel an improved separable to protect them against wear and corrosion. Adtrack in which a damaged section may be quickly dtolal means may be provided for resisting wear replaced. and providing traction and for thispurpose, in The principal. Objects 0f the invention are t0 25 the eVlll', Cleats Ol." Shoes 0f metal are IlO desired, provide convenience of. repair md repmmgnt, removable wear shoes 26 of rubber-like material to provide a flexible track having an improved Vulnzed t'0' metal Shoe DL'MJSS 2 may be SS- separable coupling, to provide a track of con- Cllred Over the' body 25 on the tread side by' the veniently replaceable sections, and to provide bolts` i7', i8; i9, the bolts havingr their' heads enectively for strength with facility of repair.' 39 fixed in the shoe plates 2l againstrotation.

These and other objects will appear from the F01' Securing the' cables -3f to' thef connecting following description and the accompanying members i4', i5 each Connecting member is drawing. formed with a mortice- Silin its outermost face Of the drawing, and a set of apertures 3i are provided through Fig, 1 is a plan View of a, portion 0f the track 35 the innermost facey connectingv with the'- mortice showing a pair of connected track sections,4 the and spacedv to receive the ends ofthecables, the rubber-like body being. broken away from one apertures beine` large enough to clear the-cushtrack section and from a portion of the adjoining iOIllIlg rubber Covering 2@ ofy the cables. Each track Section .to Show the metal part; cablev extends through an aperture and has a Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on lineL 2 2' of 40 felllllo 32 Secured' t0' its end and seated in the Figi, morti'ce, the group of ferrules on they ends of Fig. 3 is a transverse section, taken on line each Seiof Cables Substanlnlly'f'lling the mortice. 3 3` of Fig. 2, parts being brokenaway; The connecting members are secured together Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the lwith their morticed outermost faces abutting each connecting members and cables, parts being 45 other arid'fo'r holding them in proper alignmem; broken away. the members are formed' at their ends with over- Fig. 5 is a perspective ve'wof a cable end with lapping' ears 33, 34 apertured to receive'connect'- a ferrule attached' thereto. ing bolts 35, 36' passing vertically through aligned Referring to the drawing, the track' is' of secapertures therethrough. The" connecting memtions connected to each other as at. I', H, |'2 50 bers are also formed on their outermost or meet'- by coupling or connecting members'. Each secing faces between groups of cables with halftion has a, flexible tension band of tension' eleround grooves 3i, 33' which, when the" members ments, such as the parallel spacedeapart cables are assembled, denne a bolt-opening orsecuring i3, extending lengthwise thereof and' anchored in a Wear and guide plate member 20. The guide connecting members I4, I5 at' theI ends thereof. 55 plate member stradclles the connectingmembers and th track vul to hold them together. The connecting members are also formed on their upper faces with dowel ridges 39, 40 which interlock with corresponding grooves formed in the wear and guide plate member 20 to further prevent accidental separation.

The meeting faces of the ears 33, 34 are preferably located on the central plane of the cables so as to be at the neutral axis thereof and the shear load on the bolts 35, 36 is applied therefor at the plane of the neutral axis avoiding any tilting of the connecting members. The location of the ears at the margins of the track facilitates removal and replacement as the bolts 35, 36 are readily accessible.

The connecting members I4, I5 are positioned with respect to the cross-bars I6 so that the wear and guide members 2E) mounted on the bars and the connecting members, which are also utilized for driving the track by engagement with sprocket teeth, `are equally spaced at intervals corresponding to the pitch of the sprockets and all of the wear and guide plate members 20 are oi uniform dimensions. The connecting members may be reduced in thickness in a longitudinal direction of Lthe track, at the position where they are engaged by the wear and guide plate members 20 but are made relatively thick in that direction between the guide plate seat and their outer bolted ends to provide adequate stiffness. The ierrules 32 may be secured to the cable ends in any manner, as by contracting them in place on the cables, or by welding or brazing the cables to them, it is preferred, however, to con- .tract the ierrules about the cables by crimping or `swaging them about the cables. The rubber-like cushioning material of the body is forced into the Amortice about the ferruled cable ends during molding of the rubber body and assists in holding them in place in the mortice. With the connecting members bolted together, the ferrules are conned in the opposed moriices with the ferrule of the cables of one section abutting against the ferrules of the cables of the next section.

`When the tread shoes 26 are employed at the connecting members, their bolts I1, I8, I9 may be used to secure the track sections in the ears at -the margins and in the center of the bars.

The overlapping wear and guide plate members 20 may be of the same construction as those disclosed in the Mayne Patent No. 2,107,490, of 'February V8, 1938, having a wear surface 20a to engage the sprockets and pairs of guide plates '2th, 2Gb, arranged to engage a guiding groove in a drive pulley, the guide plates on successive `cross-bars being adapted to overlap to prevent side sway f the track.

y In forming the track, the cables are arranged in proper spaced relation and the connecting members i4, I are strung on the cables the apertures for the cable being suflicient in size to .permit adjustment of the connecting members along lthe cables over the rubber covering thereon. uniform tension and the ierrules are contracted about the cables at the proper positions. The rubber covering may be removed from the cables at the positions Where the ferrules are to be contracted. After the ferrules are fixed to the cables, they connecting bars are moved along the cables into positions engaging over the ferrules. The cross-bars may then be secured to the cables between the connecting members ,and the rubberlike material canized in a mold.

rIhe cable reaches are then placed under Y for the body may be built in place Where desired, a plurality of track sections or a complete track may be assembled and molded as an assembly of sections with the cables extending continuously therethrough and 'after the molding operation, the cables may be cut apart between the connecting members I4, I5 to provide track sections. This method provides for tensioning long lengths of cable uniformly throughout a plurality of sections.

Where the track is damaged in use, the damaged section may be removed and a new section inserted in the track without removing the track from the vehicle as the bolts are readily accessible at the margins of the track.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A separable self-laying track comprising a jointless flexible body having ends adapted for detachable connection, said body comprising a flexible tension structure, a plurality of crossbars at spaced-apart positions along said tension structure and secured thereto, and connecting members secured to said tension structure at the ends thereof, said connecting members having overlapping apertured ears integral with said members at the margins of the track, and means engaging said ears for securing said connecting members to each other.

2. A separable self-laying track comprising a jointless flexible body having ends adapted for detachable connection, said body comprising resilient rubber-like material, a flexible tension structure embedded in said material, said tension structure comprising a plurality of laterally spaced-apart reaches of metallic cable secured to said body by vulcanized adhesion and extending longitudinally of the track with their axes substantially in a single plane, a plurality of crossbars at spaced-apart positions along said tension structure and resiliently secured thereto by intervening rubber-like material, and connecting members secured to said tension structure at the ends thereof, said connecting members having apertured ears integral with said members at the margins of the track overlapping substantially in said plane, and bolts engaging through said ears for securing said connecting members to each other.

3. A separable self-laying track comprising separable jointless iiexible sections, each section comprising laterally spaced-apart longitudinal cable elements, cross-bars secured at intervals to the cable elements, connecting members secured to the ends of said cable elements, said connecting members having apertured fiat-faced ears at the margins of the track, and bolt means for securing together the overlapping ears of adjoining sections.

4. A separable self-laying track comprising separable jointless exiblesections, each section comprising a flexible tension structure, cross-bars secured at intervals along said structure, connecting members secured to the ends of said structure, said connecting members having apertured ears integral with said members at the` margins of the track for securing them te the members of adjoining sections in overlapping relation by bolts passing through the overlapped ears, said ears being adapted to overlap at substantially the neutral plane of said structure.

5. A separable self-laying track comprising separable sections, each section comprisinglaterally spaced-apart longitudinal cable elements,

cross-bars secured at intervals to the cable elements, connecting members secured to the ends of said cable elements, and a, body of resilient rubber-like material surrounding said cable elements and portions of said cross-bars and connecting members, said connecting members having apertured ears at the margins of the track for securing them to the members of adjoining sections in overlapping relation by bolts passing through the overlapped ears, said connecting members having mortices in their meeting faces, and said cables having ferrules secured to their ends and conned in said mortices.

6. A separable self-laying track comprising separable sections, each section comprising laterally spaced longitudinal tension members, cross-bars secured at intervals to the tension members, connecting members secured to the ends of said tension members, and a body of resilient rubber-like material surrounding said tension members and at least portions of said cross-bars and connecting members, said connecting members having at-faced ears extending therefrom at the margins of the track for securing them face-to-face to the connecting members of adjoining sections in overlapping relation, means engaging the overlapped ears for thus securing them, said connecting members having apertures for receiving said tension members, and said tension members having means for anchoring their ends in said apertures.

ROBERT MAYNE.

CARL D, BERRY. 

